System, Method and Apparatus for Locating and Merging Documents

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a system, method, and apparatus to generate a merged record comprises a client server configured to generate a first report; and a recovery server configured to: receive the first report, the first report including first report information including at least one first descriptive term and a customer ID; match the at least one first descriptive term to one of a plurality of descriptive terms in a descriptive term list; determine if a weighted percentage associated with the matched at least one first descriptive term is greater than a predetermined weighted percent; match the at least one first descriptive term to at least one second descriptive term in at least one second report if it is determined that the weighted percentage associated with the matched at least one first descriptive term is greater than the predetermined weighted percent.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/158,658, filed Jan. 17, 2014 and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, ANDAPPARATUS FOR LOCATING AND MERGING DOCUMENTS,” which is herebyincorporated herein by reference. This application also claims prioritybenefit to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/369,629 filed Aug. 1,2016 and entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR LOCATING ANDMERGING DOCUMENTS,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to merging data fields. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to locating and mergingdata fields in lost and found records.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Everyone has forgotten a personal item at least once. Once lost, theitems may or may not ever be returned to the rightful owner. Forexample, when on vacation, a user may forget an item(s) in a hotel room.In another example, a customer may forget an item in a rental car,sporting event, or any other establishment or event. The most commonitem left in hotel rooms is chargers, such as a cell phone charger.However, any other valuable items may also be lost or left behind suchas clothing, cell phones, jewelry, and the like.

When reporting the lost item, the user or customer or the establishmentmay submit a lost report. Then when the item is found, the establishmentand/or the finder may submit a found report. However, to determinewhether the lost report matches the found report requires a person tomanually compare the information between the two records to determine ifthe found item matches the lost item.

OVERVIEW

The invention is directed to a system, method, and apparatus forlocating and merging data fields based on matching keywords and/or codeshaving a high weighted percentage in lost and found records, reports, ordocuments. Each lost and/or found record or report may have a pluralityof data fields such as customer identification, description information,and any other desired data. Initially, keywords are weighted based onuse in previous lost and found records, reports, or documents. Thekeywords are stored in the data fields and are matched with terms inanother lost and found records, reports, or documents. If there is amatch found with keywords above a preset or predetermined weightedpercentage of use, then it is displayed on a display.

To locate and determine potential data fields to merge to produce asingle merged record or document, the customer identification and maincode of one record is matched with other customer identification andmain codes other records stored in a report server. When two or morerecords or documents are selected to be merged, a comparison is made todetermine whether there are any terms that are different in each of thedata fields. If there are terms in the data fields that are different, asingle record with both terms may be generated. The different terms maybe set apart or presented in a different format such as in italics,bolded in a different color, on separate lines, or in any other format.If the document was later determined not to be a match or the user wouldlike to unmerge the documents, the documents the merged terms may bedeleted and the documents returned to its original format.

In one embodiment, a system to generate a merged record, comprises aclient server configured to generate a first report; and a recoveryserver configured to: receive the first report, the first reportincluding first report information including at least one firstdescriptive term and a customer ID; match the at least one firstdescriptive term to one of a plurality of descriptive terms in adescriptive term list; determine if a weighted percentage associatedwith the matched at least one first descriptive term is greater than apredetermined weighted percent; match the at least one first descriptiveterm to at least one second descriptive term in at least one secondreport if it is determined that the weighted percentage associated withthe matched at least one first descriptive term is greater than thepredetermined weighted percent; and display the at least one secondreport if the at least one first descriptive term matches the at leastone second descriptive term.

In another embodiment, a method for generating a merged report,comprises receiving, at a server, a first item report, the first itemreport including first report information, the first report informationincluding at least one descriptive term and a customer identification;accessing a weighted term list including a plurality of descriptiveterms, each of the descriptive terms having a weighted value; selectinga subset of the plurality of descriptive items from the weighted termlist based on the weighted value for the plurality of descriptive items;identifying one or more second item reports that potentially match thefirst item report, the identifying being based on at least in part onthe plurality of descriptive items in the subset of the plurality ofdescriptive items and the weighted value for each of the plurality ofdescriptive items in the subset of the plurality of descriptive items;and subsequently presenting the identified one or more second itemreports.

The present invention provides other hardware configured to perform themethods of the invention, as well as software stored in amachine-readable medium (e.g., a tangible storage medium) to controldevices to perform these methods. These and other features will bepresented in more detail in the following detailed description of theinvention and the associated figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more example embodimentsand, together with the description of example embodiments, serve toexplain the principles and implementations.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system for merging records.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary term database.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the matching and merging of data fieldsaccording to one embodiment.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary method for locating and mergingrecords.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method for creating customized matchterms.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are exemplary screenshots illustrating customization ofmatch terms.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device according toone embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram for determining a weighted percentageof use for at least one keyword in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram for locating matching records that maybe merged.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate example screenshots illustrating the matchingand merging of reports.

FIGS. 11A-11B illustrate another flow diagram for locating matchingrecords that may be merged.

FIGS. 12A-12H are exemplary screenshots in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments are described herein in the context of a system, method, andapparatus for locating and merging data fields of lost records withfound records. The following detailed description is illustrative onlyand is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments willreadily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit ofthis disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementationsas illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same referenceindicators will be used throughout the drawings and the followingdetailed description to refer to the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of theimplementations described herein are shown and described. It will, ofcourse, be appreciated that in the development of any such actualimplementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be madein order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliancewith application- and business-related constraints, and that thesespecific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from onedeveloper to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such adevelopment effort might be complex and time-consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those ofordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps,and/or data structures may be implemented using various types ofoperating systems, computing platforms, computer programs, and/orgeneral purpose machines. In addition, those of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature, suchas hardwired devices, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or the like, may alsobe used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventiveconcepts disclosed herein.

The disclosed invention is directed to a system, method, and apparatusfor locating and merging data fields based on matching keywords and/orcodes having a high weighted percentage of use in lost and found recordsor documents. Each lost and/or found record or report may have aplurality of data fields such as customer identification, descriptioninformation, and any other desired data. Each lost and/or found recordor report may have a plurality of data fields such as customeridentification, description information, and any other desired data.Initially, keywords are weighted based on use in previous lost and foundrecords, reports, or documents. The keywords are stored in the datafields and are matched with terms in another lost and found records,reports, or documents. If there is a match found with keywords above apreset or predetermined weighted percentage of use, then it is displayedon a display.

To locate and determine potential data fields to merge to produce asingle merged record or document, the customer identification and maincode of one record is matched with other customer identification andmain codes other records stored in a report server. When two or morerecords or documents are selected to be merged, a comparison is made todetermine whether there are any terms that are different in each of thedata fields. If there are terms in the data fields that are different, asingle record with both terms may be generated. The different terms maybe set apart or presented in a different format such as in italics,bolded in a different color, on separate lines, or in any other format.If the document was later determined not to be a match or the user wouldlike to unmerge the documents, the documents the merged terms may bedeleted and the documents returned to its original format.

Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below with referenceto FIGS. 1-12. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat the detailed description given herein with respect to these figuresis for explanatory purposes as the invention can extend beyond theselimited embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary system for locating and mergingrecords or reports. The system 100 can have a plurality of clientcomputing devices 102 a, 102 n (where n is an integer) configured tocommunicate with a recovery server 108 via network 112 to transmit alost item report with the hope of recovering their lost items. Clientcomputing devices 102 a-n and recovery server 108 may be connected tonetwork 112 via any known wired or wireless manner. Client computingdevices 102 a-n may be any computing device such as a desktop computer,laptop, netbook, as well as any mobile computing device such as mobile(e.g., cellular) phones, media players, personal digital assistants(PDAs), and the like.

The system 100 may have an establishment server 104 configured tocommunicate with the recovery server 108 via network 112 to transmitlost and/or found item reports and conduct any other transactions suchas receive shipping documents, authentication of the customer, and thelike. The establishment server 104 may be associated with any type ofbusiness such as a hotel, supermarket, airport, airline company, coffeeshop, car rental company, school (e.g. primary school, university,college, and the like), cruise ship, movie theaters, parks andcampgrounds, shopping centers, business centers, private residences, orany other location where a lost item may be lost and/or found.Furthermore, the establishment server may also be an event, such as afootball game, convention, seminar, and the like.

Recovery server 108 may have a report server 106. The report server 106may have a lost item database 110 and a found item database 112. Thelost item database 110 may be configured to store lost item reports 114submitted by the client device 102 a-n or the establishment server 104.The found item database 112 may be configured to store found itemreports 116 transmitted from the client device 102 a-n or theestablishment server 104. The lost item report 114 may have a pluralityof data fields storing information such as customer identification,description information, associated codes, and any other desired data.For example, the customer identification fields may include customername, user name, password, electronic mail address, address, phonenumber, and any other desired customer information. In another example,the description information may include lost item description such asthe location of where the item was found, detailed description of theitem, such as color, shape, manufacturer, client contact information,current storage location of the lost item and other descriptiveinformation. The location of where the item was found may include abusiness name, room number, seat number, and/or additional location dataof where the item was located. The lost item description may alsoinclude an image of the lost item to enhance or increase the chances foridentification of the lost item. In yet another example, the code datafield may include any codes that are associated with the lost itemreport 114. As further discussed in detail below, the associated codesmay be used to locate potential documents to merge.

The recovery server 108 may have a match server 122. The match server122 may be configured to store keyword terms. The match server 122 mayhave a term database 120 configured to store various terms such as, forexample, main terms 112, product terms 112 and generic terms 128. Thoseof ordinary skill in the art will now realize that the terms may beorganized in any desired data structure or organization scheme that isunderstandable or necessary for the organization. One example embodimentwill now be described. The main terms 128 may be main or high-levelkeyword terms to describe various products. The main terms may be adescription used to describe a plurality of products. For example, andas illustrated in Table 1, main terms may include “clothing”,“electronics”, “sporting goods”, and the like. Each main term 128 may beassigned a code or unique identifier. For example, “clothing” may beassigned code 10. Although illustrated in numerical format, the code maybe any unique code or identifier consisting of text, symbols, ornumbers.

TABLE 1 MAIN TERMS CODE CODE CLOTHING 10 SPORTING GOODS 20 ELECTRONICS30 BOOKS 40 CHILDREN TOYS 50 ADULT TOYS 60 FURNITURE 70 HEALTH BEAUTY 80

Each main term 124 may be associated with a plurality of product terms126 as illustrated in Table 2. The product terms 126 may further definewhat the main terms 124 are. For example, under main term “clothing”,the product terms 126 may include pants, shirts, dress, shoes, and thelike. In another example, main term “health beauty” may include theproduct terms perfume, make-up, razor, soap, lipstick, and the like.Each product term 126 may be assigned a code or unique identifier. Forexample, “pants” may be assigned code 10-1, “shirt” may be assigned code10-2, and the like. Although illustrated in numerical format, the codemay be any unique code or identifier consisting of text, symbols, ornumbers.

TABLE 2 MAIN TERM: MAIN CODE PRODUCT TERM PRODUCT CODE CLOTHING: 10PANTS 10-1 SHIRT 10-2 DRESS 10-3 SHOES 10-4 SOCKS 10-5 JACKET 10-6 HAT10-7 GLOVES 10-8 HEALTH PERFUME 80-1 BEAUTY: 80 MAKE-UP 80-2 RAZOR 80-3SOAP 80-4 LIPSTICK 80-5 NAIL POLISH 80-6

Each product term 126 may be associated with a plurality of genericterms 128 as illustrated in Table 3. The generic terms 128 may furtherdefine what the product terms 126 are. For example, under product term“SHOES”, the generic terms 128 may include sneakers, dress, high hell,crocks, and the like. In another example, product term “health beauty”may include the generic terms concealer, foundation, mineral, powder,and the like. As such, there may be substantially more generic termsthan product terms, and substantially more product terms than mainterms.

Each generic term 128 may be assigned a code or unique identifier. Forexample, “sneakers” may be assigned code 10-4-1, “dress” may be assignedcode 10-4-2, and the like. Although illustrated in numerical format, thecode may be any unique code or identifier consisting of text, symbols,or numbers.

TABLE 3 MAIN TERM: PRODUCT TERM: GENERIC TERM: MAIN CODE PRODUCT CODEGENERIC CODE CLOTHING: 10 SHOES: 10-4 SNEAKER: 10-4-1 DRESS: 10-4-2SANDEL: 10-4-3 CROCS: 10-4-4 BOOT: 10-4-5 SKETCHERS: 10-4-6 VANS: 10-4-7STEVE MADDEN: 10-4-8 HEALTH MAKE-UP: 80-2 CONCEALER: 80-2-1 BEAUTY: 80FOUNDATION: 80-2-2 MINERAL: 80-2-3 POWER: 80-2-4 CREAM: 80-2-5 BRONZER:80-2-6 BLUSH: 80-2-7 EYEBROW PENCIL: 80-2-8

In one embodiment, each of the product terms 126 and generic terms 128may also include misspelled keywords, keywords with interchangedletters, alternative spellings, and the like. For example, generic terms128 may include the following misspelled terms for “CROCS”: “croks”;“crooks”; “krocks”; “kroks”; and any other alternative or misspelledterms. In another example, product term 126 may include the followingmisspelled terms for “SNEAKERS”: “sneeker”; “sneker”; “sneckr”;“sneaker”; “sneaker”; and any other alternative or misspelled terms.

EXAMPLES

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, exampleterm databases 120 will be described. Although described with referenceto different establishments, this is not intended to be limiting as theterms and/or keywords in the term database 120 may vary and may be basedupon the type of establishment or desired terms of the established.

Example 1

The main terms 124 for an airport establishment may be each country theairline services. The product terms 126 may then further define each ofthe main terms 124. The product terms 126 may be cities or states withinthe country that the airline services. The generic terms 128 may includecities within each state and well as any misspellings or alternativespellings of the state, country, or city. This is further illustratedand explained in Table 4.

TABLE 4 MAIN TERM PRODUCT TERM GENERIC TERM UNITED STATES CALIFORNIASACRAMENTO CALI SAN DIEGO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES NORTHERNCALIFORNIA FRESNO KALIFORNIA SAN JOSE KALIPHONIA SAN FRANCICO LAX SJCSFO

Example 2

Recovery server 108 may allow the establishment to further customize itsown match terms stored in an establishment term database 118. If theestablishment is a hotel, the hotel's main terms may be internal terms130 associated with a location within the hotel. For example, theinternal term 130 “ZONE-1-LOBBY” may be associated with the receptionarea of the lobby, internal term 130 “ZONE-2-LOBBY” may be associatedwith the waiting are of the lobby, and internal term 130 “POOL-NW” maybe associated with the Jacuzzi area of the pool.

Each internal term 130 may have a plurality of generic public terms 132associated with each of the internal terms 130. For example,“ZONE-1-LOBBY” may be associated with generic public terms 132“reception”, “concierge”, “front desk”, “check-in”, “receptionist”, andthe like. In another example, “POOL-NW” may be associated with genericpublic terms 132 “Jacuzzi”, “hot tub”, “spa”, “hot-tub”, and the like.

In another embodiment, recovery server 108 may allow the establishmentto add, edit, or delete any existing or pre-defined match terms (e.g.the main terms, product terms, or generic terms) to further customizethe match terms to the establishment's desires. For example, theestablishment may want to change or customize the pre-defined match term“CLOTHING” to “WOMEN CLOTHING” and “MEN CLOTHING”. In other words, theestablishment may customize any existing hierarchy of match terms storedin the match server databases as further illustrated in Table 5.

TABLE 5 INTERNAL TERM GENERIC TERM ZONE-1-LOBBY RECEPTION CONCIERGEFRONT DESK CHECK-IN RECEPTIONIST POOL-NW JACUZZI HOT TUB SPA HOT-TUB

Example 3

FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary term database. The establishmentmay be any establishment such as a hotel, airplane, seminar, theme park,movie theatre, and the like. The term database 200 may have main terms202, product terms 216, and generic terms 234. Main terms 202 may havekeywords “CLOTHING” 204, “SPORTING GOODS” 206, “TOYS” 208, “ELECTRONICS”210, “JEWELRY” 212, “BOOKS” 214, and the like.

Main term 202 may be associated with a plurality of product terms 216that further define each main term 202. “CLOTHING” 204 may be associatedwith product terms 216 “DRESS” 218, “SHIRT” 220, “PANTS” 222, and“SHOES” 224. Main term 202 “ELECTRONICS” 210 may be associated withproduct terms 216 “PHONE” 226, “LAPTOP” 228, “TABLET” 230, and“CHARGERS” 232.

Product terms 216 may be associated with a plurality of generic terms234 which further define each of the product terms 216. Product term 216“PANTS” 222 may be associated with generic terms 236 “TROUSER”, “KHAKI”,“CAPRI”, “JEANS”, and the like. The generic terms 236 may also includealternative or misspelled keywords such as “TROUSOR”, “KAKI”, “KAPRY”,and the like. Product term 216 “PHONE” 226 may be associated withgeneric terms 238 “IPHONE™”, “IPHONE™ 3”, “GALAXY NOTE™ 3”, “GALAXYNOTE™ II” AND THE LIKE. The generic terms 236 may also include variousmisspelling and/or spellings of each of the generic terms 238 such as“I-PHONE™”, “I-PHONE™ 3”, “I-PHONE™ 4” and the like.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, a customer may call theestablishment to report a lost or found item. The establishment server104 may then create and transmit to the recovery server 108 a lost itemreport 114 or a found item report 116. In another embodiment, clientdevice 102 a-n may self-report and transmit to recovery server 108 alost item report 114 and/or a found item report 116. The lost itemreport 114 may be stored in the lost item database 110 and the founditem report 116 may be stored in the found item database 112.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the matching and merging of data fieldsaccording to one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3A, the lost item report302 may have a plurality of data fields such as a customeridentification data field 306, lost item information data field 308, andan associated code data field 310. Customer identification 306 mayinclude information such as name, unique or user identification, phonenumber, address, password, electronic mail, or any other desiredcustomer information. Lost item information 308 may also includedescriptive information of the lost item, location of where the item waslost, date the item was lost (e.g. a business name, room number, seatnumber, level, and/or additional location data of where the item wasfound), entry date of the lost item report 302, and any other desiredlost item information. Associated codes 310 may be any codes associatedwith the lost item report 302 based upon keywords or terms obtained fromthe lost item information 308.

The found item report 304 may also have a plurality of data fieldssimilar to the lost item report 302. The found item report 304 may havea plurality of data fields such as a customer identification data field312, found item information data field 314, and an associated code datafield 316. Customer identification 312 may include information such asname, unique or user identification, phone number, address, password,electronic mail, or any other desired customer information. Found iteminformation 314 may also include descriptive information of the founditem, location of where the item was found (e.g. a business name, roomnumber, seat number, level, and/or additional location data of where theitem was found), date the item was found, entry date of the found itemreport 304, and any other desired lost item information. Associatedcodes 316 may be any codes associated with the found item report 304based upon keywords or terms obtained from the found item information314.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, data fields in the lost item report 302 andthe found item report 304 may be compared to locate potential records,reports or documents to be merged. In one embodiment, the customeridentification 306, 312 of the lost item report 302 and the found itemreport 304 may be compared. In another embodiment, the associated codes310, 316 of the lost item report 302 and the found item report 304 maybe compared. It will now be known that any of the data fields may becompared to locate potential documents to be merged.

As illustrated, the customer name data field may be “COLODNY, BRIAN”322, 324 in both the lost item report 302 and the found item report 304.Additionally, the main code data field “10” 330, 334 and the productcode data field “4” 332, 336 in both the lost item report 302 and thefound item report 304 may be the same. If there is a match in thecustomer identification data fields and/or the associated code datafields, the records may be potential reports to merge.

If it is determined that the records are to be merged, the iteminformation data field 308, 314 from both the lost item report 302 andthe found item report 304 may be compared for any differences ordiscrepancies. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the description data field inthe lost item report 302 may be “BLACK CROKS” 340. However, thedescription data field in the found item report 304 may be “BLACKCROCKS” 342. Since the spellings are different, the discrepancy will benoted and included in the merged report 320.

A single combined merged report 320 may be generated by combining thedata fields from each record. Although illustrated as merging tworeports, this is not meant to be limiting as more than one record may bemerged. For example, there may be two or more found item reports thatmay be merged with a single lost item report. In another embodiment, twoor more lost item reports may be merged with a single found item report.Furthermore, although illustrated as merging a lost item report with afound item report, this is not intended to be limiting as two or morelost item reports may be merged. In another embodiment, two or morefound item reports may be merged. In still another embodiment, the founditem report may be merged with the lost item report.

The resulting merged report 320 may include information both from thelost item report 302 and the found item report 304. As illustrated, datafields from the found item report 304 information may be merged withdata fields from the lost item report 302. Generally, lost item reportshave more information and the information is more accurate than founditem reports as customers want their lost items returned. Thus,information in the found item reports 304 may be merged or added to thelost item report 302. However, this is not intended to be limiting asthe lost item report 302 information may be merged or added to founditem reports 304.

The merged or added information may be presented differently or separatefrom the information in the lost item report. In one embodiment, themerged information may be presented as italics, bolded, in a differentfont, in a different text size, or presented in any other knowndifferent manner. In another embodiment, the merged information may beset apart from the information in the lost item report. For example, theadded information may be presented and set apart in brackets, quotationmarks, on a different line, or set apart in any other known manner. Asillustrated, the merged information 350 is set forth in quotation marks,displayed in all capital letters, and bolded.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an exemplary method for locating and mergingrecords. The method 400 provides that a first report may be received at402. The report may have a plurality of data fields, including at leastone descriptive term and a customer identification. Other data fieldsmay also include associated codes and any other desired data fields.Customer identification may include information such as name, unique oruser identification, phone number, address, password, electronic mail,or any other desired customer information. Item information may alsoinclude descriptive information of the item, location of where the itemwas lost or found, date the item was lost or found (e.g. a businessname, room number, seat number, level, and/or additional location dataof where the item was found), entry date of the report, and any otherdesired lost item information. Associated codes may be any codesassociated with the report based upon keywords or terms obtained fromthe item information.

A determination if the at least one descriptive term matches at leastone generic term is made at 404. If a match is found at 406, a genericcode is associated with the at least one descriptive term at 408. Thegeneric terms 128 may define what a product is. For example, underproduct term “SHOES”, the generic terms may include sneakers, flip flop,high heel, crocks, boots and the like. In another example, product term“health beauty” may include the generic terms concealer, foundation,mineral, powder, and the like. As such, there may be substantially moregeneric terms than product terms, and substantially more product termsthan main terms.

Each generic term 128 may be assigned a code or unique identifier. Forexample, “sneakers” may be assigned code 10-4B-C, “dress” may beassigned code 10-4B-GG, and the like. Although illustrated in numericalformat, the code may be any unique code or identifier consisting oftext, symbols, or numbers.

If no match is found at 406, a determination if the at least onedescriptive term matches at least one product term at 410. If a match isfound at 412, a product code is associated with the at least onedescriptive term at 414. The product terms may be a higher-level termthan the generic terms yet define what the products are. For example,the product terms may include pants, shirts, dress, shoes, and the liketo describe the product “CLOTHING”. In another example, product termsperfume, make-up, razor, soap, lipstick, and the like may describe“HEALTH BEAUTY”. Each product term may be assigned a code or uniqueidentifier. For example, “pants” may be assigned code 10-1, “shirt” maybe assigned code 10-2, and the like. Although illustrated in numericalformat, the code may be any unique code or identifier consisting oftext, symbols, or numbers.

In one embodiment, each of the product terms and generic terms may alsoinclude alternative or misspelled keywords. For example, generic termsmay include the following alternative or misspelled terms for “CROCS”:“croks”; “crooks”; “krocks”; “kroks”; and any other misspelled terms. Inanother example, product term may include the following misspelled termsfor “SNEAKERS”: “sneeker”; “sneker”; “sneckr”; “snecker”; “sneaker”; andany other alternative or misspelled terms.

If no match is found at 412, a determination if the at least onedescriptive term matches at least one main term is made at 416. If nomatch is found at 418, the method 400 may end. If a match is found at418, a main code is associated with the at least one descriptive term at420. The main terms may be main or high-level keyword terms to describevarious products. The main terms may be a description used to describe aplurality of products. For example, main terms may include “clothing”,“electronics”, “sporting goods”, and the like. Each main term may beassigned a code or unique identifier. For example, “clothing” may beassigned code 10. Although illustrated in numerical format, the code maybe any unique code or identifier consisting of text, symbols, ornumbers.

Since the main terms are high-level terms, there are less main termsthan product terms and generic terms. Additionally, there are moregeneric terms than product terms since the generic terms are descriptiveterms describing the product terms.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, the method 430 starts with locating a secondreport at 432. The second report, may have a plurality of data fields,including at least one descriptive term and a customer identificationdata field. Other data fields may also include associated codes and anyother desired data fields. Customer identification may includeinformation such as name, unique or user identification, phone number,address, password, electronic mail, or any other desired customerinformation. Item information may also include descriptive informationof the item, location of where the item was lost or found, date the itemwas lost or found (e.g. a business name, room number, seat number,level, and/or additional location data of where the item was found),entry date of the report, and any other desired lost item information.Associated codes may be any codes associated with the report based uponkeywords or terms obtained from the item information.

A determination whether the second report customer identification andmain code matches the first report customer identification and main codeat 434. Although described with matching the customer identification andmain code data fields, this is not intended to be limiting as any datafields may be matched. For example, the customer identification and allthe associated codes may be matched. If a match is found at 436, datafields of the first report with data field of the second report iscompared to identify one or more differences at 438. If any differencesare identified at 440, a single combined data field based on thedifferences identified may be generated at 442 to form a merged documentusing the combined data field at 444.

Although illustrated as merging two documents, this is not meant to belimiting as more than one document may be merged. For example, there maybe two or more found item reports that may be merged with a single lostitem report. In another embodiment, two or more lost item reports may bemerged with a single found item report. Furthermore, althoughillustrated as merging a lost item report with a found item report, thisis not intended to be limiting as two ore more lost item reports may bemerged. In another embodiment, two or more found item reports may bemerged. In still another embodiment, the found item report may be mergedwith the lost item report.

The resulting merged report or document may include information bothfrom the first report and the second report. The merged or addedinformation may be presented differently or separate from theinformation in the merged document. In one embodiment, the mergedinformation may be presented as italics, bolded, in a different font, ina different text size, or presented in any other known different manner.In another embodiment, the merged information may be set apart from theinformation in the lost item report. For example, the added informationmay be presented and set apart in brackets, quotation marks, on anotherline, or set apart in any other known manner.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary method for creating customized matchterms. The method 500 starts by receiving a request to customize matchterms at 502. Recovery server (such as recovery server 108 illustratedin FIG. 1) may allow the establishment to further customize its ownmatch terms stored in a database (such as establishment term database118 illustrated in FIG. 1). Internal match terms may be received at 504.For example, if the establishment is a hotel, the hotel's main terms maybe internal terms associated with a location within the hotel. Forexample, the internal term “ZONE-1-LOBBY” may be associated with thereception area of the lobby, internal term “ZONE-2-LOBBY” may beassociated with the waiting are of the lobby, and internal term“POOL-NW” may be associated with the Jacuzzi area of the pool.

Associated public terms may be received at 506. Each internal term mayhave a plurality of generic public terms associated with each of theinternal terms at 508. For example, “ZONE-1-LOBBY” may be associatedwith generic public terms “reception”, “concierge”, “front desk”,“check-in”, “receptionist”, and the like. In another example, “POOL-NW”may be associated with generic public terms “Jacuzzi”, “hot tub”, “spa”,“hot-tub”, and the like.

In one embodiment, a recovery server may allow the establishment to add,edit, or delete any existing or pre-defined match terms (e.g. the mainterms, product terms, or generic terms) to further customize the matchterms to the establishment's desires. For example, the establishment maywant to change or customize the pre-defined match term “CLOTHING” to“WOMEN CLOTHING” and “MEN CLOTHING”. In other words, the establishmentmay customize any existing hierarchy of match terms stored in the matchserver databases.

FIGS. 6a and 6b are exemplary screen shots illustrating customization ofmatch terms. Referring to FIG. 6a , the screen shot 600 illustratescustomization of match terms. The graphical user interface 600 allows anestablishment (such as establishment server 104 illustrated in FIG. 1)to request customization of match terms at 602. Recovery server (such asrecovery server 108 illustrated in FIG. 1) may allow the establishmentto further customize its own match terms stored in a database (such asestablishment term database 118 illustrated in FIG. 1).

Referring to FIG. 6b , the screen shot 604 illustrates customization ofmatch terms. The graphical user interface 604 allows the establishmentto add new word terms 606, edit existing or saved terms 608, or deleteexisting or saved terms 610 a,b. To customize match terms, theestablishment may enter an internal term at 612 as well as a public termat 614. For example, if the establishment is a hotel, the hotel's mainterms may be internal terms associated with a location within the hotel.For example, the internal term “ZONE-1-LOBBY” may be associated with thereception area of the lobby, internal term “ZONE-2-LOBBY” may beassociated with the waiting are of the lobby, and internal term“POOL-NW” may be associated with the Jacuzzi area of the pool.

The customized match terms may be received by the recovery server when“UPDATE TITLES” 616 or any other similar button is selected. Eachinternal term may have a plurality of generic public terms associatedwith each of the internal terms at 508. For example, “ZONE-1-LOBBY” maybe associated with generic public terms “reception”, “concierge”, “frontdesk”, “check-in”, “receptionist”, and the like. In another example,“POOL-NW” may be associated with generic public terms “Jacuzzi”, “hottub”, “spa”, “hot-tub”, and the like.

In one embodiment, a recovery server may allow the establishment to add606, edit 608, or delete 610 a,b any existing or pre-defined match terms(e.g. the main terms, product terms, or generic terms) to furthercustomize the match terms to the establishment's desires. For example,the establishment may want to change or customize the pre-defined matchterm “CLOTHING” to “WOMEN CLOTHING” and “MEN CLOTHING”. In other words,the establishment may customize any existing hierarchy of match termsstored in the match server databases.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device 700 accordingto one embodiment. The computing device 700 can represent circuitry of arepresentative computing device (e.g. client device, recovery sever,shipping server, third party payment server, establishment server)described and illustrated in FIG. 1. The computing device can bedesigned to primarily stationary or can be portable.

The computing device 700 includes a processor 702 that pertains to amicroprocessor or controller for controlling the overall operation ofthe computing device 700. The computing device 700 stores media datapertaining to media items in a file system 704 and a cache 706. The filesystem 704 is, typically, semiconductor memory (e.g., Flash memory)and/or one or more storage disks. The file system 704 typically provideshigh capacity storage capability for the computing device 700. However,since the access time to the file system 704 can be relatively slow, thecomputing device 700 can also include the cache 706. The cache 706 is,for example, Random-Access Memory (RAM). The relative access time to thecache 706 is typically shorter than for the file system 704. However,the cache 706 does not have the large storage capacity of the filesystem 704. The computing device 700 also includes a RAM 720 and aRead-Only Memory (ROM) 722. The ROM 722 can store programs, utilities orprocesses to be executed in a non-volatile manner. The RAM 720 providesvolatile data storage, such as for the cache 706.

The computing device 700 may also include a user input device 708 thatallows a user of the computing device 700 to interact with the computingdevice 700. For example, the user input device 708 can take a variety offorms, such as a button, keypad, dial, touch-sensitive surface, etc.Still further, the computing device 700 includes a display 710 (screendisplay) that can be controlled by the processor 702 to displayinformation to the user. A data bus 711 can facilitate data transferbetween at least the file system 704, the cache 706, the processor 702,an audio coder/decoder (CODEC) 712 and/or a video CODEC 715.

In one embodiment, for example, if the computing device 700 (e.g. clientdevice 102 a-n, establishment server 104 illustrated in FIG. 1) is aportable electronic device, the computing device 700 may store aplurality of data fields (e.g., customer information, productdescription, etc.) in the file system 704. When a user desires to reporta lost item report the computing device may allow the user to inputinformation in the data fields. The data fields may be displayed on thedisplay 710. Then, using the user input device 708, a user can selectone of the available data fields. The processor 702, upon receiving aninput, stores the input into the data fields and, if necessary, out itto one or more appropriate output devices. If the particular media itemis encrypted, the particular media item is first decrypted as notedabove, which could involve one or more layers of encryption. As anexample, for audio output, the processor 702 can supply the media data(e.g., audio file) for the particular media item to the audio CODEC 712.The audio CODEC 712 can then produce analog output signals for a speaker714. The speaker 714 can be a speaker internal to the computing device700 or external to the computing device 700. For example, headphones orearphones that connect to the computing device 700 would be consideredan external speaker. As another example, for video output, the processor702 can supply the media data (e.g., video file) for the particularmedia item to the video CODEC 715. The video CODEC 715 can then produceoutput signals for the display 710 and/or the speaker 714.

The computing device 700 also includes a network/bus interface 716 thatcouples to a data link 718. The data link 718 allows the computingdevice 700 to couple to another device (e.g., a host computer, a powersource, or an accessory device). The data link 718 can be provided overa wired connection or a wireless connection. In the case of a wirelessconnection, the network/bus interface 716 can include a wirelesstransceiver.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram for determining a weighted percentageof use for at least one keyword in accordance with one embodiment. Themethod 800 begins with creating a list of descriptive terms or keywords,each descriptive term obtained from a plurality of reports at 802. Thereports may be prior lost and/or found records or reports. The priorlost and/or found records or reports may have been submitted from usersthat lost or found items. Each descriptive term or keyword may be parsedand provided in a list. A weighted percentage of use for each of thedescriptive terms may be determined at 804. The weighted percentage ofuse may be based on a frequency of use of each of the descriptive terms.In other words, keywords having a higher frequency of use may beassigned a higher weighted percentage of use.

Each of the descriptive terms or keywords may be associated with itsdetermined weighted percentage of use at 806. Once assigned, the list ofdescriptive terms and weighted percentage of use for each of thedescriptive terms may be periodically updated based on a plurality ofnew reports at 808. As each new lost and/or found records or reports aresubmitted, the descriptive terms or keywords are parsed from the recordor report. The descriptive terms or keywords are either added to thedescriptive term list if a new descriptive term or the weighted or theweighted percentage of use may be updated if the descriptive term isalready on the list.

In one embodiment, the weighted percentage of use may decrease dependingon a found date of an item. Generally, 95% of all matches occur withinfour days of the lost and found events. For example, if an item was loston July 4^(th), there is a 95% chance that if the item is ever found, itwill be found by July 8th. The weighted percentage of use may be higherif the item was found on the same day, and decreases as days pass. Inother words, the weighted percentage of use decreases on July 5^(th) andeven more on July 6^(th). The percentage of decrease may be, in oneembodiment, predetermined by the user.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram for locating matching records that maybe merged. The method 900 begins with receiving a first report at 902.The report may have a plurality of data fields, including at least onedescriptive term and a customer ID. Other data fields may also includeassociated codes and any other desired data fields. Customeridentification may include information such as name, unique or useridentification, phone number, address, password, electronic mail, or anyother desired customer information. Item information may also includedescriptive information of the item, location of where the item was lostor found, date the item was lost or found (e.g. a business name, roomnumber, seat number, level, and/or additional location data of where theitem was found), entry date of the report, and any other desired lostitem information. Additional information such as colors, brands,condition of the item, and the product code of the item maybe included.The product code, for example, may be the serial number of the item.

Each term used to describe the lost or found item may be included in thelist of descriptive terms or keywords. At least one descriptive term maybe matched to the list of saved descriptive terms at 904. If there is nomatch at 906, the at least one descriptive term may be added to the listof descriptive terms and assigned a weighted percentage of use at 908.If there is a match at 906, at least one of the matched descriptiveterms is selected at 910. The at least one selected matched descriptiveterm may have a weighted percentage of use above a predeterminedweighted percent. For example, the user may predetermine that keywordshaving a weighted percentage of use above 50% may be selected. Inanother example, the user may predetermine or preset the weightedpercentage of use to keywords having a weighted percentage of use above75% may be selected.

The at least one selected matched descriptive term from the first reportmay be matched to at least one descriptive term in at least one secondreport at 912. Keywords having a high weighted percentage of use in thefirst report may be matched to keywords in a second report to determineif the items are a match. In one embodiment, a subset of keywords usedin the first report may be matched to a subset of keywords used in thesecond report. If there is a match at 914, the at least one matchedsecond report may be displayed at 916.

FIGS. 10A-10C illustrate example screenshots illustrating the matchingand merging of reports. FIG. 10A illustrates a screen shot 1000 of alist of reports. Each report may contain a plurality of data fields suchwhether the report is a found report 1002 or a lost report 1004. Otherdata may be the date of the event 1008, location where the item was lostor found 1010, description of the item 1012, and the owner's orfounder's information 1014. Each report may also contain a matchidentifier 1006 to determine potential matches. When the matchidentifier 1006 is selected, at least one match report may be displayedas illustrated in FIG. 10B.

Referring now to FIG. 10B, the screen shot 1020 may display at least onematch report 1030. The user may scroll between all the potentialmatching using the scroll identifier 1026. On a portion of the display,the lost item report 1028 may be displayed proximate to or adjacent thematch report 1030. The user may selected to merge indicator 1022 tomerge the lost report 1028 with the match report 1030 or rejectindicator 1024 to not merge the lost report 1028 with the match report1030. The reports may be merged as described above.

In another embodiment, after having merged two documents, the user maydetermine that the two documents were improperly merged. The user mayselect a demerge indicator (not shown) and the documents will bereturned to each of their original states as if they were not merged. Inone embodiment, archived copies of both reports may be recovered andrestored and the merged document may be deleted.

When determining possible reports to match, descriptive terms orkeywords maybe used. For example, the item term “coat” and/or “jacket”may have a high weighted percentage of use and therefore used todetermine the match report 1030. In another example, the brand term “AnnTaylor” may have a high weighted percentage of use and therefore used todetermine the match report 1030. In still another example, both the itemterm and brand term may have been used to determine the match report1030. Although the item and brand data field are discussed, this is notintended to be limiting as any other data may be used such as productcodes, color, detailed personal identification (i.e. a found passport),location of lost item or found item, flight number, contract number,ticket number, and the like.

Furthermore, in one embodiment, the found date 1038 is the same as thelost date 1036. Therefore, the weighted percentage of use may be highfor the item terms and brand terms. However, if the item was found threeor four days later, the weighted percentage of use may have been lowerfor the item term and/or brand term.

The found report 1030 may also have at least one match indicator 1031.The match indicator 1031 may display the percentage of match based onthe keywords. For example, a completely colored or shaded matchindicator with a check indicates a 100% match. In another embodiment asillustrated in FIG. 10C, if there is no match, the match indicator 1031may not be colored or shaded in. In still another embodiment, if only50% of the keywords match, 50% of the match indicator 1031 may becolored or shaded. Although illustrated as a circular shape, the matchindicator 1031 may be any shape, size, figure, or indicator to indicatea percent.

Referring now to FIG. 10C, in one embodiment, the report 1040 may listthe number of items found 1044. As illustrated, three items were found.The user may hover over an information indicator 1046 and a pop-up box1042 may appear. The pop-up box 1042 may provide a report summary ofeach of the items that were found. As illustrated, the items found werea Belt, iPhone, and blankets. Brief information about each of the itemsmay also be displayed.

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate another flow diagram for locating matchingrecords that may be merged. Referring to FIG. 11A, the method 1100begins with creating a plurality of data fields at 1102 for lost reportsand found reports. The data fields may be any field necessary to assista customer in reporting a lost item and/or reporting a found item. Forexample, the data fields may be color of the item, what the item is,brand of the item, serial number, and any other desired data field.

A weighted average may be assigned for each of the plurality of datafields at 1104. Different data fields may have a predetermined weightedpercentage. Each data field may be assigned a higher or lower weightedpercentage. For example, the “model” field be weighted higher (i.e. 50points or percent) than the “color” field (i.e. 10 points or percent).In another example, the “airport location” field (of the lost time orfound item) may be weighted higher (i.e. 60 points or percent) than the“material” field (i.e. 5 points or percent) as the airport locationfield of the found item may be determined to be more indicative of apositive match than a material field match.

Lost item information, for a lost item to be reported by a customer orconsumer, may be received for at least one of the plurality of datafields at 1106. A customer or consumer that lost an item may report theloss by inputting lost item information into data fields on a graphicaluser interface presented on a computing device associated with thecustomer or consumer. The lost item information may be any informationdesired to describe the lost item such as date of loss, color, make,model, and any other description that may be helpful to identify thelost item.

At least one lost item keyword, based on the received lost iteminformation, may be associated with each of the plurality of data fieldsat 1108. In one embodiment, the at least one lost item keyword may be,for example, the descriptive terms as described in FIG. 8. In otherwords, lost item keywords may have a weighted percentage of use above apredetermined weighted percentage of use. In another embodiment, the atleast one lost item keyword may only be one keyword selectable by thecustomer. For example, under a “color” data field, the customer may beable to only select one color, such as blue, black, white, and the like.In another example, for an “airport code” data field, the customer maybe able to only select one airport location such as LAS, RDU, LAS, SJC,and the like. Those of ordinary skill in the art will now understandthat a combination of both embodiment may also be possible.

Found item information, for a found item to be reported by a customer orconsumer, may be received for at least one of the plurality of datafields at 1110. A customer or consumer that found an item may report thefind by inputting found item information into data fields on a graphicaluser interface presented on a computing device associated with thecustomer or consumer. The found item information may be any informationdesired to describe the found item such as date found, color, make,model, and any other description that may be helpful to identify thefound item.

At least one found item keyword, based on the received found iteminformation, may be associated with each of the plurality of data fieldsat 1112. In one embodiment, the at least one found item keyword may be,for example, the descriptive terms as described in FIG. 8. In otherwords, found item keywords may have a weighted percentage of use above apredetermined weighted percentage of use. In another embodiment, the atleast one found item keyword may only be one keyword selectable by thecustomer. For example, under a “color” data field, the customer may beable to only select one color, such as blue, black, white, and the like.In another example, for an “airport code” data field, the customer maybe able to only select one airport location such as LAS, RDU, LAS, SJC,and the like. Those of ordinary skill in the art will now understandthat a combination of both embodiment may also be possible.

Referring now to FIG. 11B, the at least one lost item keyword may bematched to at least one found item keyword for each of the plurality ofdata fields at 1114. The keywords for each data field may be matched.For example, if the at least one lost item keyword for the “color” datafield was black, it may be matched with a found report having a founditem keyword of black in the “color” data field. If there is no match at1116, the method 1150 may end. If there is a match at 1116, theassociated weighted average for each of the data fields associated withthe matched keywords are determined at 1120. Each matched keyword isassociated with a data field. Each data field may be associated with aweighted average, which was determined at step 1104. The associatedweighted averages are added to obtain a total weighted average at 1122.

A determination is made as to whether the found date is five daysgreater than the loss date at 1124. The date of loss reported on thelost report may be compared to the found date reported on the foundreport. Although illustrated with a difference of five days, it will nowbe known that any predetermined number of days may be used such as twodays, eight days, and the like. If the found date is five days greaterthan the loss date, the total weighted average may be reduced by apredetermined amount at 1126. The total weighted average may decreasebased on the found date of an item and/or the lost date of an item.Generally, 95% of all matches occur within four days of the lost andfound events. For example, if an item was lost on July 4^(th), there isa 95% chance that if the item is ever found, it will be found betweenJuly 4^(th) and July 8th. The total weighted average may decrease asdays pass. In other words, the total weighted average may begin todecrease on July 5^(th) and even more on July 6^(th). As stated above,although illustrated with a difference of five days, it will now beknown that any predetermined number of days may be used such as twodays, eight days, and the like. The amount of decrease may be, in oneembodiment, predetermined by the user. In another embodiment, the totalweighted average may automatically decrease by a predetermined percenteach day after the fourth day the item was reported as lost, such as by0.5% each day.

If the date of loss is the same as the found date at 1124, presentationof at least one found report, having a total weighted average above apredetermined total weighted average, may be facilitated at 1128. Afound report, having a total weighted average above a predeterminedtotal weighted average, may be a potential match with a lost report. Thematched lost and found reports may be presented, for example, asillustrated in FIGS. 10A-C.

Example 1

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, an examplescenario is provided. Although described with specific data, this is notintended to be limiting as other data and scenarios may be used toaccomplish the same or similar result. For example, other fields may beused such as lost location, found location, and material. In anotherexample, the assigned codes may be different, such as include both textand numbers and/or include text, numbers, and symbols.

A customer that has lost an item may generate a lost report. The lostreport may be generated by inputting responses into a website. Forexample, a dropdown menu may list a variety of items that may have beenlost. The customer may select from one of a plurality of the items.FIGS. 12A-12H are exemplary screenshots in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. FIG. 12A illustrates a plurality of selectablevenues 1202. The venue may be any location an item may be forgotten,left behind, or lost such as ski resort, shopping mall, bus, rental car,theatre, and the like. The customer may select a venue or location wherethe item was lost. For example, the customer may have lost the item at acasino 1204, airport 1206, or hotel/resort 1208.

FIG. 12B illustrates a screenshot illustrating specific types of venues.Upon receipt of a selection of a venue, such as the airline 1210, inFIG. 12A, the user may select a subset of the venue. In FIG. 12B, thename of the airline may be selected from a dropdown menu 1212. The nameof the airline may be any known airline such as Allegiant Travel 1214,American Airlines 1216, United Airlines 1218, and the like. In anotherexample, if “amusement park” was selected, the subset dropdown menus maythen list a plurality of states and/or countries the amusement park waslocated. Another subset dropdown menu may also be a list of names ofamusement parks in that state or country.

Once selection of an airline is received, the customer may then beprompted to select options that describe the lost item. FIG. 12Cillustrates an example screenshot of lost item location selections. Thecustomer may be prompted to select and input location data of where thelost item was lost. For example, the customer may be prompted to selectthe type of item that was lost 1220, where the lost item was last seen1224, airport where the lost item was last seen 1226, date of loss 1228,and any other information related to the location of the lost item. Thecustomer may manually input the date or, as illustrated, the customermay select a date from a calendar 1260.

The type of item that was lost 1220, as illustrated in FIG. 2D, may be alist of all types of items such as clothing 1230, electronics 1232,identifications (e.g. license, credit cards, passports, and the like)1234, and the like. A selection for electronics 1232 may result in adropdown menu listing different types 1234 of electronics 1232. Forexamples, the customer may select electronics such as cellular phone1236, camera 1238, GoPro 1240, and the like.

A selection of an electronic type may result in a pop-up box 1242 asillustrated in FIG. 12F. The pop-up box 1242 may request additionalinformation about the lost item. Although illustrated using a pop-upbox, this is not intended to be limiting, as those of ordinary skill inthe art will know that any other method to obtain the information may beused, such as being directed to another web page or use of a differentgraphical user interface. As illustrated, the background may be darkened

In this example, the lost item may be a GoPro 1240 that was selected inFIG. 12E from the dropdown menu listing different types 1234 ofelectronics 1232. The pop-up box 1242 may request any desiredinformation about the lost item that will help identify the lost item.For example, the color of the GoPro 1244, case color 1246, brand 1248,and the like. A dropdown menu may list a variety of colors, brands, andthe like that the customer may select from. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 12G, the customer may select clear 1250 as the GoPro color,beige 1252 as the case color, and GoPro Hero 4 1254 as the brand.

Referring back to FIG. 12G, the customer may also manually input anyother descriptive information about the lost item into box 1250. Theinformation may be used to help identify the lost item. For example, thecustomer may input other descriptive information about the GoPro such asa scratch or crack on the screen, perhaps a sticker placed on the GoPro,or any other identifying or descriptive information that will help toidentify the lost item.

FIG. 12H illustrates an example screenshot illustrating a dropdown menuof the different airports 1252. The airport code 1254 as well as thelocation 1256 of the airport may be listed.

Based on the input provided, the input is matched with a uniqueidentifier such as a code or integers. The unique identifier is what isused to match reports which improves accuracy and is more efficient fora faster comparison between reports than using text string comparisons.

The following example tables may be stored in a database such as termdatabase or establishment term database. The tables and fields may beused to efficiently, accurately, and quickly determine whether a foundreport matches a lost report and/or vice versa.

TABLE 1 Item Code iPhone 176 iPad 170 Laptop 171 Charger  10 Purse 200

TABLE 2 Model/Brand Code iPhone 5 1232 iPhone 6 1233 iPad Air Mini 1000Samsung 2250 Coach  250

TABLE 3 Color Code Red 101 Black 102 Green 103 White 104 Blue 105

TABLE 4 Airport Code LAX 562 SJC 563 SFO 564 RNO 565 LAS 566

TABLE 5 Material Code Plastic 302 Metal 303 Rayon 304 Cotton 305Silicone 306

TABLE 6 Description Code Cracked 402 Torn 403 Wrinkled 404 Ripped 405Broken 406

TABLE 7 Language Code English 602 Spanish 603 Chinese 604 German 605Russian 606

Using similar facts as above, the following is an example table of alost item report stored in, for example, a lost item database. Theunique identifier or codes in each field are based on the input obtainedfrom the customer that lost the item. In other words, once the input isreceived from the customer that lost the item, a unique identifier orcode is associated with the field that is received. For example, whenthe input for Airport is received as RNO, code 565 may be assigned tothe Airport field.

Customer Information Mac McLaughlin 775.123.4567 Mac@lostitem.com LostDate Aug. 10, 2016 Item Lost 176, 10  Color 104, 102 Airport 565Model/Brand 1233  Lost Location Seat 5C Description of item 402 screenwith puppy screen saver Material 302 Language code 603 [language of thereport]

A person that finds the lost item may then report the lost item bygenerating a found item report. The found item report maybe inputtedinto fields, such as on a website, and saved in a database, such as afound item report database. For example, a dropdown menu may list avariety of items that may have been found. The person may select fromone of a plurality of the found items. Based on the input provided, theinput is matched with a code or integers. The code or integers are whatis used to match reports which improves accuracy and is more efficientfor a faster comparison between reports than using text stringcomparisons.

The following is an example of a found report. The codes in each fieldare based on the input obtained from the person that found the lostitem. In other words, once the input is received from the customer thatfound the item, a unique identifier or code is associated with the fieldthat is received. For example, when the input for Model/Brand isreceived as iPhone 6, code 1233 maybe assigned to the Airport field.

Customer Information Brian Colodny 775.765.4321 Brian@founditem.comFound Date Aug. 11, 2016 Item Lost 176, 10  Color 104, 102 Airport 565Model/Brand 1233  Lost Location Seat 5C Description of item 402 screenMaterial 302 Language code 602 [language of the report]

When determining whether the lost item report matches a found itemreport, the unique identifier may then be matched to determine if thelost report matches the found report. This matching process of the codesfrom each of the lost report and found report is more efficient,accurate, and faster that conducting a text string comparison.

Example 2

For exemplary purposes only and not intended to be limiting, an examplescenario is provided. Although described with a specific weightingprocess, this is not intended to be limiting as other methods andprocesses may be used to accomplish the same or similar result. Forexample, different weighting percentages may be used based on data thathas been empirically analyzed. In another example, different weightingpercentages may be used based on actual successful merges of lost andfound item reports.

Using similar facts as above, the following is an example table of alost item report stored in, for example, a lost item database. The codesin each field are based on the input obtained from a customer that lostthe item.

Weighted Percent Customer Information Mac McLaughlin 0% 775.123.4567Mac@lostitem.com Lost Date Aug. 10, 2016 0% Item Lost 176, 10  30% Color 104, 102 5% Airport 565 30%  Model/Brand 1233  10%  Lost LocationSeat 5C 10%  Description of item 402 screen with puppy screen saver 5%Material 302 6% Language code 603 0% Total Weighted Average 96% 

The at least one lost item keywords may be iPhone, Charger, RNO, andloss date Aug. 10, 2016.

Similar to the example above, the following is an example of a foundreport. The codes in each field are based on the input obtained from theperson that found the lost item.

Weighted Percent Customer Information Brian Colodny 0% 775.765.4321Brian@founditem.com Found Date Aug. 15, 2016 0% Item Lost 176, 10  30% Color 104, 104 5% Airport 565 30%  Model/Brand 1233  10%  Lost LocationSeat 5C 10%  Description of item 402 screen 5% Material 302 6% Languagecode 602 0% Total Weighted Average 91% 

The at least one found item keywords may be iPhone, Charger, RNO, andfound date Aug. 15, 2016.

Found reports having a found date prior to the lost date may beeliminated. Found reports having a found date on or after the lost dateare matched with potential lost reports. The at least one lost itemkeywords may be matched with the at least one found item keywords todetermine a match.

Based on the matched keywords, the total weighted average is 96% for thelost report. However, there are five days between the lost date of Aug.10, 2016 and the found date Aug. 15, 2016. It may be preset to decreasethe total weighted average for the found report by 5% for each day afterthe 4^(th) day. Therefore, the found report may have a total weightedaverage of 91%.

A predetermined total weighted average may be set at 75%. Therefore, anyfound reports having a total weighted average above 75% may be presentedas a match for the lost report.

The various aspects, features, embodiments or implementations of theinvention described above can be used alone or in various combinations.Embodiments of the invention can, for example, be implemented bysoftware, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.Embodiments of the invention can also be embodied as computer readablecode on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is anydata storage device that can store data which can thereafter be read bya computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium generallyinclude read-only memory and random-access memory. More specificexamples of computer readable medium are tangible and include Flashmemory, EEPROM memory, memory card, CD-ROM, DVD, hard drive, magnetictape, and optical data storage device. The computer readable medium canalso be distributed over network-coupled computer systems so that thecomputer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will become obviousto those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced withoutthese specific details. The description and representation herein arethe common meanings used by those experienced or skilled in the art tomost effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components,and circuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the present invention.

In the foregoing description, reference to “one embodiment”, “anembodiment”, “one example” means that a particular feature, structure,or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can beincluded in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances ofthe phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specificationare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor areseparate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. Further, the order of blocks in process flowcharts ordiagrams representing one or more embodiments of the invention do notinherently indicate any particular order nor imply any limitations inthe invention.

Although the foregoing disclosure has been described in detail by way ofillustration and example for purposes of clarity and understanding, itwill be recognized that the above described disclosure may be embodiedin numerous other specific variations and embodiments without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics of the disclosure. Certainchanges and modifications may be practiced, and it is understood thatthe disclosure is not to be limited by the foregoing details, but ratheris to be defined by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A system to generate a merged record, comprising: a client serverconfigured to generate a first report; and a recovery server configuredto: receive the first report, the first report including first reportinformation, the first report information including at least one firstdescriptive term and a customer identification (ID); match the at leastone first descriptive term to one of a plurality of descriptive terms ina descriptive term list; determine if a weighted percentage associatedwith the matched at least one first descriptive term is greater than apredetermined weighted percent; match the at least one first descriptiveterm to at least one second descriptive term in at least one secondreport if it is determined that the weighted percentage associated withthe matched at least one first descriptive term is greater than thepredetermined weighted percent; and display the at least one secondreport if the at least one first descriptive term matches the at leastone second descriptive term.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the firstreport is a lost report and the second report is a found report.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the weighted percentage is based on a date ofthe first and second report.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein theweighted percentage decreases as the difference between the date of thefirst report and the date of the second report increases.
 5. The systemof claim 1, further comprising receive a selection of one of thedisplayed at least one second report.
 6. The system of claim 5, furthercomprising merge the selected second report with the first report. 7.The system of claim 6, further comprising: receive an indication tounmerge the selected second report and the first report; and restore thefirst report and the selected second report.
 8. The system of claim 1,further comprising: a match indicator displayed in the second reportproximate each of a second report information, wherein the matchindicator indicates the percentage of match based on the matched atleast one first descriptive term.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein thematch indicator is shaded to represent the percentage of match.
 10. Amethod for generating a merged report, comprising: receiving, at aserver, a first item report, the first item report including firstreport information, the first report information including at least onedescriptive term and a customer identification; accessing a weightedterm list including a plurality of descriptive terms, each of thedescriptive terms having a weighted value; selecting a subset of theplurality of descriptive items from the weighted term list based on theweighted value for the plurality of descriptive items; identifying oneor more second item reports that potentially match the first itemreport, the identifying being based on at least in part on the pluralityof descriptive items in the subset of the plurality of descriptive itemsand the weighted value for each of the plurality of descriptive items inthe subset of the plurality of descriptive items; and subsequentlypresenting the identified one or more second item reports.
 11. A methodas recited in claim 10, wherein the method comprises: permittingselection of one of the identified one or more second item reports beingpresented.
 12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the methodcomprises: designating the selected one of the identified one or moresecond item reports as matching the first item report.
 13. A method asrecited in claim 10, wherein the identifying of the one or more seconditem reports being further based on a date corresponding to the seconditem reports as compared to a date corresponding to the first itemreport.
 14. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the first itemreport is a lost item report, and wherein the second item reports arefound item reports.
 15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein theidentifying of the one or more found item reports being further based ona lost date corresponding to the lost item report as compared to a founddate corresponding to the found item reports.
 16. A method as recited inclaim 10, wherein the weighted value for the descriptive items isdependent on a date.
 17. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein theweighted value for the descriptive items is based on a datecorresponding to the second item reports as compared to a datecorresponding to the first item report.